Nurse faces court over hospital poisonings

A 27-year-old nurse charged in connection with the alleged contamination of saline at a hospital will appear in court today.

Rebecca Leighton was remanded in custody by magistrates on July 23 following her arrest by police investigating the deaths of patients at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

Leighton is accused of three counts of criminal damage with intent to endanger life and three counts of criminal damage being reckless as to whether life was being endangered.

The charges relate to the alleged tampering of saline ampoules, saline bags and medical products.The Stepping Hill employee, of Buxton Road, Heaviley, is also charged with theft of medicine.

She will make her first appearance at Manchester Crown Court today via videolink for a preliminary hearing.

Last week, Greater Manchester Police said it was no longer investigating the death of one of five patients at the centre of the tampering probe.The family of George Keep was told his death no longer formed part of the inquiry.

Mr Keep, 84, of Cheadle, died on July 14 after being admitted to the hospital with a broken hip.Police continue to investigate the suspicious deaths last month of Tracey Arden, 44, Arnold Lancaster, 71, Derek Weaver, 83 and Vera Pearson, 84.

The alarm was raised at the hospital when a higher than normal number of patients were reported to have "unexplained" low blood sugar levels.